A Magi or A Fake?
by ShapeshifterGal
Summary: A girl and her friend are forced into the world of Magi by none other than Al Thamen. Both of them discover new sides of themselves as they are pushed to their limits of sanity. They are given gifts that will help them in this strange world of magic. They will go through hell and back just to get home again. Or will they decide to stay? T for language & misc. Enjoy!
1. Prologue

**Hey guys! I've been wanting to write this for some time now and I've finally gotten done with most of the planning. I WILL be going into season two with this. I hope you guys like this ^^ so enjoy! **

**DISCLAIMER! I DO NOT OWN MAGI: THE LABYRINTH OF MAGIC OR THE CHARACTERS!**

Prologue: Inside The Orb

I'm surrounded by a warm substance. It has faded reds, yellows, oranges, and pinks as its color. There's also these white, softly glowing orbs that wander around and give of a sense of comfort. My mind is disoriented and fuzzy; I can't focus or remember anything of importance. But I hear some distant voices, laughing, and other noises that humans make when talking to each other.

I try to will my eyes open to survey the surroundings that I have never seen yet somehow know. I'm able to slowly open my eyes as if I had just woken up. I numbly stare at my weird surroundings. I can't tell if this colorful void has an end to it or not. Giving up on looking for a way out, I change my focus onto the orbs.

One of them drift pass me and, as I see some blurry images cross its surface, I try to reach out to it. But unluckily for me, my body is confused at the action and tangled itself up. I slowly looked down at my body in annoyance. I discovered that I was floating with my legs up to my chest while my arms were under my knees. I tried wiggling my shoeless toes and smiled when they obeyed. I then quickly took note of some white fabric floating into my vision and to my surprise I was wearing a simple white dress.

Another orb drifted pass me and I remembered my earlier confusion and curiosity. This one also had images displayed, but they were clearer and showed people having...oh what is it called? PICNIC! I sleepily smiled only a portion of my happiness. I furrowed my eyebrows and tried to force myself to smile wider. I frowned, and to my dismay, it was again only a fraction of my true emotion. I figured that it was the goo/water substance surrounding me was the cause of it and redirected my attention on the orbs again.

Most of the orbs showed happy moments. But what I noticed is that in every one of the images, the same girl was appearing. From what I could collect, she didn't smile much, was shy, goofy, and was protective of the people she seemed close to. The girl liked to keep her long blonde hair loose and slightly pass her shoulders. And almost always her cat-like green eyes were shining with curiosity of the world and, it may not look like it at first, she was carrying a great burden.

I felt a pang of recognition in my chest that slowly grew into a great stabbing pain. My pale hands clutched together where my heart was. With every heartbeat a wave of pain, stronger than the last, envelops me. As I pant short breaths through clenched teeth, I can feel my consciousness and recent memories being pushed into the depths of my amnesic mind.

As my pain was pulsing in my heart and temples I noticed a change in my surroundings. Instead of it being a comforting atmosphere and array of colors, it shifted into an angry pulsing atmosphere of reds. Thanks to the angry pulse, I could feel that instead of a vast empty landscape I am actually in a giant orb. I also noticed that the smaller orbs were now tinted with a red-orange hue. I could feel a pain in my right shoulder and the warmth of the giant orb was disintegrating.

I manage to crack one of my eyes open. I stare at the orb in front of me through my pain. It shows the same blonde girl and an asian girl, that she appears close to, in an alley surrounded by dark clothed figures. I could FEEL their names and their identities on the tip of my tongue. I watched as they were slowly backed into a wall, completely surrounded. When I saw the asian girl's scared facial expression I felt the pulsing giant orb around me begin to crack with my anger (1).

As the orb pulsed with my chest, a memory resurfaced in my mind. Well more like a realization of time passing. My mind rejected the idea at first but slowly allowed the truth to come to light. The memories that I can now recall are telling me that I've been in this endless dimension for many days. It's even possible that I could have been in here for weeks, maybe even a whole month. But my thoughts strayed to more important matters as the pain intensified.

I forced my arms away from my chest. I gritted my teeth and slowly reached out for the orb in front of me. It showed that the clothed figures had raised their arms and began to chant. The blonde was standing protectively in front of the scared, smaller raven haired girl. She had confusion and fear underneath her protective glare that she was giving.

This all seemed familiar as my fingertips were a hair breath away from touching the orb. I couldn't move around in this weird substance. The only things it would let me do is stretch my limbs. I watched in agony as the orb just sat there irritatingly as the pain in my chest grew worse.

I stretched my arms one last time and managed to grab the orb. I curled my body around it as I held it to my stomach. I curled tight around the orb, hoping to absorb it. I want to absorb the orb (ha rhyme *wipes tear from eye*) and my memories it holds. That's right these orbs are **_MY_** memories. They hold _**MY** _life and _**MY** _identity within them. I want to remember everything. No I _need_ to remember what happened. What happened to me, how I got here, and what happened to...

"JULIE!" I screamed in pain and rage just before my surroundings shattered (1).

**Haha I love leaving cliffhangers. So how was it? I tried really hard to describe the umm... "Giant Orb" as best as I could. As for the (1)'s I wanted to point out that from when it starts cracking till it shatters completely, the Orb is continually cracking as the MC is noticing that her memories are inside the smaller orbs. I just wanted to point that out in case anyone thought differently (ya never know). The next chappie will describe how the MC got in the Giant Orb and who Julie is. Please R&amp;R I would so love it if you did~ Thanks and...have a cupcake~!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone~ How's it going? I personally wanna thank Jemstone6259 for pointing out that's been over two weeks and pushing me to update and all that jazz :D THANKS GIRL! So I shall warn y'all that this has some touchy language in the beginning (but that's why I rated it as I did). Hit me if ya want I don't care it's how the MC is so yolo...SEE YOU ALL AT THE BOTTOM! *jumps off cliff***

**Chapter 1**

"FUCK FUCK FUUUUUUCK!" I screamed at the television as I repeatedly beat the X button on the controller. I threw the controller up in the air angrily as it showed I was dead. "GOD FUCKING DAMIII-AHHH!" I shouted as I got up out of my nest of blankets and pillows and stormed to the kitchen. When I opened the basement door, light streamed in. I squeezed my eyes shut as I hissed at the brightness of day. Once my eyes adjusted I looked outside and noticed that it was early in the afternoon.

I mumbled incoherent words and opened the cabinet to grab a bowl. I stomped over to the pantry, grabbed a box of Captain Crunch, went to the fridge, got the milk, and slammed it shut with my foot. I sloppily poured the cereal and milk and roughly shoved a spoon in the food. Pulling on a hoodie, I looked outside while I chewed with vigor. But when I saw who was outside I clamped my hand over my mouth before I could spit out cereal and milk.

"Karl?!" I opened the door, after I swallowed, to usher in the wet dog, "Did Tammy leave you outside again?!" My dog just stared at me with sad eyes as he slowly wagged his tail. 'Unbelievable,' I thought. Just before Karl was going to shake the water off of himself, I glared at him. "No," I said sternly. He whined at me as I sighed. "Fine lemme change into shorts...stay," I commanded when he tried to follow me upstairs.

I quickly changed into old raggedy shorts and went back downstairs. I walked pass Karl, patted my leg, opened the slider door, and walked outside. Karl followed me and I closed the door behind us. I quickly jogged to the shed to pull out the hose, a shallow metal tub, and dog shampoo. As I filled the tub I wiped sweat off my brow. It was probably around 11 o'clock yet it was already hot and uncomfortable outside.

When the tub was full I grabbed Karl by the collar and gently led him to the tub. Unfortunately for me, labs love water. Karl jumped right in and soaked me completely. I glared at my chocolate bundle of happiness. I sighed as I heard a bike come down the driveway. I turned my head and waved when I saw a familiar face.

"He gotcha again huh?" my friend Julie asked when she pulled up next to me. "Yeah," I sighed as I flapped my arms to get the water off, "Wanna help? I need someone to hold him down." Julie made a face as she watched Karl make a mess. "I'll make us some chocolate milkshakes," I smiled mischievously. Julie jumped off her bike and strode towards the soaked dog with purpose. I chuckled and joined her in the tub."It's a good thing you're wearing old shorts and a tank top," I smiled smugly. We started to wash Karl after Julie splashed some water at me. Along the way we switched jobs because Karl was too strong for Julie. I even had trouble holding my 200 pound dog.

An hour later we were both showered, Karl was clean, and all three of us were in the kitchen as I made chocolate milkshakes and grilled cheese for lunch. I placed Julie's food in front of her and bowed. "Bon Appétit," I said as I sat down next to her with my food. "So...do you...wanna...catch a...movie?" The ravenette asked me between bites. "Sure," I took a few bites of my sandwich and swallowed, "How about the new Captain America?" Julie nodded as she chewed the last bites of her sandwich before moving onto the shake.

I pulled out my IPhone and started to look up movie times. That's when I noticed that Julie was staring longingly at my half eaten grilled cheese. I rolled my eyes and slid the plate closer to her. "Arigato~!" I smiled as she thanked me in Japanese. I found a movie showing at 4 and it got done around 7. I quickly showed Julie as she nodded her satisfaction with the time. I locked my phone and sighed as I leaned back in the chair.

"Where's Tammy? Is she still working?" Julie asked with a concerned look. Tammy is my adoptive "mother", yet she's young enough for us to be sisters. She even said 'I'm obviously not your mother, but I'm not your guardian either. From here on out, I'm your older sis. So how bout we order some pizza?' I smiled as I recalled the long and odd hours that her waitressing job required of her.

"She hasn't been home since yesterday afternoon," I replied, sounding quite monotonic. Julie sighed as she handed me the plates. 'I just hope that she doesn't push herself too hard.' Julie poked my forehead between my eyebrows when I took the plates from her. "She's probably staying with a friend," Julie reassured me as she walked back to her seat," Jeesh, you can be such a worry wart sometimes ya know?" She smiled at me as she sat down. I rolled my eyes and said 'whatever' as I flicked her forehead.

"Hey!"

"We both can be worry warts sometimes."

"God...that was a...great movie," I said as I cracked my back between my words. It was getting a bit cooler outside as the sun started it's descent.

"Yeah I think it was pretty good," Julie also stretched as we walked away from the theater and towards a close restaurant. Well, restaurant would be putting it nicely. It was more like a bar with a ridiculous amount of seats. When we got closer, we could see the place was busier than a beehive. Julie and I shared a look knowingly. We raced towards the front entrance together.

***safely lands with parachute* Hey~! Took ya long enough! I took a detour to FMA:B to see if Mustang was behaving...Dat man and his miniskirt obsession...(I shall laugh if you scrolled down here just to see if I landed safely) Now! Back on topic! So ****_finally _****we find out who Julie is. Yay! Now we gotta wonder what's happening at the bar... **

**Me: You didn't do anything(/kill) anyone did you? **

**Judal: No! (Not yet at least *chuckles*) When are you going to insert US anyways?**

** Me: What's with the uppercase 'US'? **

**Judal: Me, Myself, and I! We're bored! We want some action already! **

**Me: *facepalm, sighs, and walks away* **

**Judal: Hey don't ignore me! I-I mean US! *chases after the young author***

**R&amp;R please! I'd so love it if you did~**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Yo! Move out of the way folks! Kitchen help comin through!" I yelled over the crowd as I tried to push my way through the crowd with Julie right behind me.

"Have I ever told you that I love the fact that you're a human bulldozer?"

"Yep! Many ti-Hey! Guys come on, no fighting! You fight, I kick your asses outta here!" A couple of guys started to brawl near us as I tried to answer Julie.

"Okay break it up, break i-oof!" yelled a deep and familiar voice.

"Damien!" I spotted the buff security guard as he got punched while trying to separate the brawling men. Everyone watching the trio cringed as a loud cracked resonated through the crowd. Two other security guards came up to the still brawling pair as Damien walked over to us holding his nose.

"Nice nose job," said one of security hands as he dragged one of the brawlers out of the crowd. I had to stifle a laugh with my hand as Damien gave him a dirty look.

"What are you ladies doing here?" He asked as he held a black handkerchief to his nose.

"We just got out of the movie theater and saw all the commotion. So we decided to lend a hand," Julie sweetly answered while ignoring the lady part of the question.

"Who ya callin a lady Damien?" I glared at Damien while I regretfully spat out the ugly L word. I always despised being called a lady, as people normally thought you had to act as your title depicted.

"Uh...no one, ma'am." He just gave me a respectable tip of his head as his southern habits made me grin. I nodded at him and surveyed the front of the restaurant. The girls at reception were scrambling as they tried to calm down ccustomers who want their tables.

"I see you guys are pretty busy," Julie commented, "Need any help?"

"You gals are life savers. Julie, we need an extra girl for waiting tables. And-"

"Yeah I know, cooking duty. Come on Julie, let's take the back way in."

"Right. Well...see you later Damien!" Julie waved the man goodbye as I worked my way to the back of the building.

\- 5 hours later - Midnight -

"Please tell me that that was the last table," Julie complained as she lazily rested her head atop of the bar. I looked up from wiping down the table I was working on, over to Julie. I heaved a tired sigh as I looked at my watch.

"Sheesh it's past midnight already." I finished up my table and threw my rag into the bat sink.

"Hey, you gals go home. The boys and I got this." Brent, the owner, patted me on the head while he put a rag on his shoulder. Damien and another guy came up behind Brent, carrying some heavy looking boxes. I thought the guy next to Damien looked strange but I just shook my head, too tired to care anymore.

"Yeah we got this. You girls go home and get some rest."

"Thanks boys. Let us know if you need help like that again." I smiled at Damien and the other males as I turned to Julie to give her a piggyback ride. "Come on old gal, I'll give ya a lift."

"Anytime! And remind me to pay you guys tomorrow!" Brent yelled as I turned around to push open the door with Julie. When we were walking towards the movie theater's parking lot, Julie mumbled, "I'm not an old lady." I breathed a quiet laugh.

"Yeah, but your energy levels matches one right now." Julie just made a noise between a grumble and a growl, too tired to do anything else. I smirked at her tired attitude as we approached my car.

I let out a frustrated growl as I saw that it had a yellow boot on one of the tires. I kicked the boot while yelling curses up to the high heavens and still growling. It wasn't a timed parking and I didn't park in the wrong spot either! So why did I get booted? As I sat there, staring at my car with a sleeping human on my back, a new black Ford fusion pulled up next to us.

"Having bad luck tonight?" I looked at the middle aged driver in confusion before a familiar head of bushy red hair appeared.

"Heeeeey! I know theessh girlssh," slurred Brandon as he slung his arm over the door. He just happened to be one of the bartenders at Brent's bar and an old friend. I raised my eyebrow in amusement at his drunken state. He has a bad habit of drinking with the customers near last call. Julie just snored, blissfully unaware of the situation.

"Yeah it seems so."

"How bout I give y'all a lift? I'm already driving this idiot home so what's a few more right?"

"Hey Yance! Don't you think Ms. Goldilocks looks pretty? *hiccup* I mean...jut look at er!"

"I think you've had enough to drink bud. How bout you lay down and hit the hay?" I warily looked at the ravenette driver as he reclined Brandon's seat for him.

I stood there with Julie on my back, debating my choices in my mind. It would take me awhile to walk a half hour drive while carrying someone. Not to mention I was pretty tired, probably wouldn't make the whole trip on foot, and that I couldn't just pry the yellow monstrosity off of accuracy with my bare hands. Also that this yellow boot business would probably get me in trouble later with Tam. Big trouble. Might lose Internet privileges. God can't risk that. Anyways...getting off track.

"So you're the new guy I heard so much about," I commented as he got out of the car. During the entire night I heard how great the new assistant manager was. How he always got everything done perfectly and efficiently. Something seemed off about this guy as I watched his movements. He opened the door for us on the passenger side. There was just something odd about him as my suspicion levels rose for some reason. But as quickly they appeared, they slowly vanished.

"That I am," He smiled, "Nice to meet you...?"

"Let's stick with Goldilocks for now," I replied curtly as I eased the sleeping hunk of meat off my back and into the back seat.

"Huh...well the name's Yance," Yance smiled gently and held his hand out to me. I looked at him warily before I finally deemed it safe to shake his hand. "A bit antisocial much, Goldie?" I grinned at him as I pushed Julie over and sat down in the back.

"It's an honor to drive you ma'am." Yance bowed dramatically to me before closing the door. I laughed at his antics, which resulted in the now two sleeping hunks of meat to stir In their sleep. I immediately shut up as Yance hopped into the driver's seat.

"So where are we heading ma'am?" I smiled.

"We live on the outskirts of Mason, near highway 41. It's a big house with horses. You can't miss it." Yance turned turned to look at me in surprise at I put Julie's and my seat belts on. Or was it confusion?

"You live where?" I raised an eyebrow at him. "Near-" He cut me off with a serious expression, "No no no no...sorry...um...you wouldn't happen to live with Tammy would you?" Cue my other eyebrow being raised.

"Yeeaaaaah...I do...why do you ask?" Emotions swirled on my chest as my stomach clenched in anxiety at the mention of my sister from a stranger. Yance sighed as he ran his hand through his black, green tinted hair.

"So...I'm guessing you're the kid she adopted?" He looked back up at me. My eyebrows furrowed together. There's an emotion in his eyes that I just can't place. Curiosity definitely isn't it. It's stern and questioning at best. He kinda looks like an interrogator at the moment. I realized my long silence of staring and shook my head in an affirmative.

"Well this is awkward," Yance chuckled out of nerves. "How is it awkward?" I just stared at him as Yance grinned nervously. "Before Tam adopted you, we used to be ah..." He trailed off as he looked everywhere but me.

"Dating?" I supplied. "Yeah, she told me she broke up with someone recently when I first got here." Yance just replied with 'Huh' and turned forward again, dismissing the conversation. I furrowed my eyebrows at his attitude and this strange numb feeling at the back of my mind. He didn't seem to be interested in this conversation at all. The feeling of being interrogated resurfaced as Yance drove us out of the parking lot. I felt the numb sensation grow into a groggy feeling as it spread throughout my body just as I passed out.

**Hey dear readers! Good Lord this took forever to get copied onto my mom's phone from my tablet. Oh my. My life has been full of new sturf since coming to my mom's house for the summer. (Kinda found out that my step bro is a crack smoking delinquent so that's fun to know right? NOT DIDN'T REALLY NEED TO KNOW THAT MA) **

**Well I got a question for you my readers. As you might have noticed, I have been purposely avoiding revealing the MC's name. I know I'm horrible. Hit me if it pleases you! So I've been wanting to name her Lia, but I want to see what you guys recommend. I AM OPEN TO ANYTHING AS LONG AS IT'S NOT STUPID OR ABSURD IN ANYWAY. COME ONE GUYS BE GROWN UPS FOR ONCE PLEASE. Then you can go back to your funky selves. And I'll reveal the choice in chapter 4, so look forward to it! Ugh...chp 3 is so looong. It might be awhile before another update my dears. Ah well...As long as I give ya something to nibble on right? Well...UNTIL NEXT TIME MY DEARS~!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Whaaaat?! Two updates?! In one day?! God I'm spoiling y'all. Well...technically I'll stay up a few hours to copy this so yay! (It's like 10:15 pm atm so hehe...let's see how long this takes shall we?)**

**I SHALL WARN YOU READERS. IF YOU ARE TOUCHY ABOUT TOUCHY/GRAPHIC HORROR SCENES PLEASE SKIM UNTIL YOU FIND A PARAGRAPH LESS TOUCHY. DO NOT PLEASE DO NOT SKIP THIS CHAPTER. IT HAS IMPORTANT INFO INSIDE. I WILL RATE THIS CHAPTER M JUST TO BE SAFE. NO THERE IS NO FREAKING ADULT CRAP IN HERE. I'M JUST BEING SAFE OKAY? I JUST TRYING TO POINT OUT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT BASICALLY HAPPEN IN THE SHOW THAT THEY DO REALLY BRUSH UP ON CAUSE COME ON IT'S A PIECE OF WORK ABOUT FRIENDSHIP AND ADVENTURES AND ALL THAT JOY. WHY AM I STILL WRITING IN CAPS?!**

Chapter 3

\- About 20 minutes later -

I awoke to loud music. I quickly sat up straight in the backseat of Yance's car. I saw that we were nearing an apartment complex in a wooded area; which I quickly remembered them as Brandon's neighborhood. But I noticed that the buildings looks burnt and almost all the windows were shattered. A feeling of dread and anxiety twisted in my stomach.

I quickly looked around the car to see that Julie and Brandon were still peacefully knocked out while Yance was still driving. I anxiously tried to remember how and when I fell asleep. I, regretfully, don't remember much, as everything is hazy in my memory at the moment. Although, I remember green gas and Yance giving me a very creepy and sadistic smile. Why gas though? And what was with that smile?

I hurriedly shook Julie up in a panic. As I did, I saw Yance look at me through the rear view mirror. My eyes widen at the murderous look in his eyes while my body freezes with fresh adrenaline pumping through my system. "_Whaaat_...huh?...wha-w-where are we?" Julie's eyes widen a little at the unfamiliar surroundings.

"Hey you're both awake! Ya ' know I was pretty surprised that you honked out in the middle of our conversation Goldie. You must've been exhausted," Yance quickly turned the music off and glanced at us over his shoulder. He gave us an innocent smile before turning back around. I looked at him as if he was mad as Julie uneasily looked at me.

"Who is he?" Julie's voice wavered as she looked at me in worry.

"He's Yance, the new assistant manager at Brent's place. He's dropping off Brandon first and then we're getting dropped off," I answered her questions while my eyes never left Yance's face.

"East wrong with us taking your c-"

"It got booted and Yance was nice enough to give us a lift."

Julie was quiet after that. I snuck a glance at her and she had a frown on her face. She huffed at my curt responses and started to play with her past shoulder length black hair that's neatly placed in a braid. I still kept my eyes in Yance as he drove further into the apartment complex. A certain checkered mask key chain caught my eye as it dangled from the rear view mirror. It looked vaguely familiar as it waved itself in front of my eyes. Julie gasped as still he looked out often window, catching my attention. Narrowing my eyes suspiciously at Yance, I sneaked a quick peek out the window to see what was going on.

**(This is where it gets bad for those of you who want to skim these bad paragraphs)**

My eyes widened as my whole body froze. Anxiety and fear twisted my stomach even further as Julie backed up into my left side; away from the window and the images outside the car. Fires greedily licked at bushes and buildings, while animals, some dead and laying scattered on the grass and concrete, others trying to crawl away with missing or mangled limbs. I couldn't find one animal that wasn't bleeding, missing a limb, or had parts of their skin missing. Forcing down a gag, I shifted my eyes away. I started to shiver with fear at the new sight as Julie's body was shaking horrendous force of her quiet sobs.

Bodies. They littered the ground like locusts. There was blood everywhere. I felt tears slip down my cheeks as we passed countless more. We stared, wide eyed, as we saw a few thrashing people still alive in a burning room. Julie turned and ride into my shoulder, clinging to my jacket as she trembled. I couldn't move. I couldn't comfort her. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't do anything as I stared in horror at all the dead children around the bloodied playground. Yance caught us looking out the window like deer caught in headlights.

"Oh don't mind them," He sighed, "Their puny lives are going towards a much larger plan." I slowly ripped my gaze from the window to look at him as he spoke in a bored and uninterested tone. I tried to open my mouth as more tears rushed down my cheeks and neck. Clenching my fist, I gathered the tiny buts of courage I had left in my crumbling mind.

"What happened here?" My voice shook as I stared at Yance with fierce and frightened eyes. The green haired driver just sighed as he reached over to Brandon and shook his shoulder. "Wake up idiot." The moment the order left his lips, Brandon sat up in his seat.

"Thank god, I was getting sick of pretending to sleep. Then again I did dose off a bit there," Brandon said in a bored tone as he set his seat in an upright position. He looked around with furrowed brows as his head rested in his palm, before turning to Yance. "Did they love anyone alive? You know _he_ wanted a few people alive."

"I told them not to." That set Brandon off on a nervous breakdown.

"Why?! Oh man we're so-"

"No one here had the potential nor the possibility of reaching it. So I had to find a few myself. Those who might, just might have the tiniest possibility of reaching the potential _he _wants." I numbly stared at the two males as my reeling mind spins, trying to process the foreign topic.

"Uhh...okay...so...where are these few you've found?" Yance impatiently herded his thumb towards us. The ginger gave a doubtful look to the other man before turning to face us. Brandon's face lit up in frightful recognition.

My mind numbed even further as Brandon started to yell at Yance as he drove even further. I caught bits and pieces of how Brandon objected to the idea of us being used for their plan and how he thought that they were just dropping up off at home. A dumber part of my mind took over my sensible and shocked part.

_Seriously how big is this place? We've been driving for a good few minutes. Oh here's another speed bump. You haven't noticed the last ones have you? Ah, look, there's an oddly placed warehouse that's conveniently guarded by men in armor and neatly placed in the trees to hide it from view. How convenient. We couldn't **possibly** be going in there. Oh...Wait...We are...Well that sucks. Hehe. Have fun trying to get away._

\- Other POV -

Julie managed to look outside again just as the warehouse doors opened to allow the vehicle entry. The poor girl still cling to her companion's arm as she eyed the guards and their armor warily. To her it seemed to have an asian and arabian theme to it. Weird...

The car stopped a ways from the giant doors as they began to close shut. Yance got out of the car with Brandon close behind, still yelling objections. It's quite expected as the duo have gotten close to the loud, yet friendly male when they had worked at the restaurant.

Julie watched as Brandon grabbed the front of Yance's white dress shirt and yelled in his face. The ravenette continued to watch as Yance grabbed hold of Brandon's own dark t-shirt and punched him a few times with his right hand. Yance let go, satisfied with his work, and walked back to the car. Julie's body stiffened as he approached. But to her luck, he just snatched the mask charm from the mirror and slammed the door close. She saw Brandon hold his nose as it bled, clearly broken, as an angry look flashed across his face. He gave Yance a disapproving gaze as the dark haired male walked past him.

Julie gasped as a dark shadow fell over her window. From what she could see, it appeared to be a man. He opened the door to reveal a area and heavily muscled chest. The man roughly grabbed the young girl's arm and dragged her out of the car with her screaming.

\- Regular POV -

Julie's screaming and being dragged out of the car made my senses reboot immediately. My face contorted into an unleashed snarl as I scrambled across the seats to reach the open door. Unknown to me, another, smaller, buff man in a business suit and dark sunglasses opened my door. I only noticed when he roughly grabbed my right ankle and dragged me back to the other side. I screamed. Out of pain, from his tight grip, and out of rage, for being so close yet so far.

I flung my body onto the floor if the car and kicked the dude in the face with my free foot. He stumbled backwards and fell on his butt. He screamed in pain and rage also while holding his hands near his face. I effectively broke his nose and glasses, causing some shards to lodge themselves into his skin. I quickly scrambled out of the car after he was put of my way.

I sprinted to my left, where Julie was kicking and screaming for the shirtless man to let her go. He had her under his left arm like some sort of basketball. I ran to catch up to them while dodging other suited men. Julie punched and elbowed the guy in the gut, but it had no effect on the giant. I came up on his right, planning on jumping on his back and giving his face a bloody makeover. But right as I was about to jump, he turned and backhanded me in the gut. My breath left me as my feet left the ground.

I flew back a good 10 feet or more. I landed on my back, then tipped backwards to painfully land on my stomach. My vision darkened and I struggled to get air back in my lungs again. I looked up at the man who hit me only to meet his red eyes. Red eyes. They were a mix between a blood red and a maroon, but an evil red nontheless. I growled as I shakily pushed myself off the ground and started to run towards the evil - eyed giant.

But before I could get close, three of the earlier men I'd dodged reached me first. I tried to fight them but they were to strong for me to handle. They grabbed hold of my arms and held my neck down so that I was immobilized. I glared at the man that held my younger friend as a rag doll. He just stared at me with those empty and emotionless red eyes.

I struggled in the guards' grips as I saw the giant place a black bag over Julie's head. She thrashed and bucked to prevent being bagged, but he still managed to put it on her. Julie screamed my name as I yelled hers, stills struggling to break free. I just gave up on breaking free and just started to drag the three men with me. I only got a few feet before another jumped atop of us, causing me me to crumble under the weight and onto the floor.

I glared with all the hate in the world at my friend's captor. That was before a pair of black men's dress slacks blocked my view of my current hate. I looked up to see it was Yance; who crouched down to me with an identical bag in his hands. He just lazily smirked at me before forcefully pulling the bag over my head.

**Okay I was going to make this chapter like 1,000 more words longer but I'm just middle fingering it right now. (Not to mention it was a great place to stop and torture y'all :D ) So...it is now 1:22 as I write this. Yeah...as you can imagine my eyes feel like they're sinking into my skull. Obviously I took a break from this (on Tumblr (and for ice cream) "XD ) for certain reasons that I won't reveal because I'm not going to scar my readers at all in this note. *sigh* Tired...I'll ask you guys one more time "today". Please send in name ideas. I'm just swimming in reluctance and other ideas for other stuff for things later in the story. God my sentences are long...Well...good night my lovely readers and please R&amp;R. For if you did, I would love you for eternity and bake you my famous made - from - scratch cookies. LOVE Y'ALL AND NOW IT'S SLEEPY TIME! (GOTTA STOP LEAVING SUCH LONG NOTES LIKE FOR REEAAALL)**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey~! So I'm back at my dad's (sadly) where I have access to WiFi basically 24/7. So yay. Sorry that I haven't updated sooner but copying a chapter takes hours and I just don't have the patience. XD So I HAVE chosen a name. But you guys won't fiddling out till next time ;) Good lord it's fun being an evil author XD So I'll leave you alone...for now...Enjoy!**

Chapter 4

I'm forced to my knees with the bag still over my head. Thanks to some idiots (who like to push me into things that I'll trip over), I now have a bunch of bruises. Not to mention that these cuffs they put on me are painfully digging into my wrists. I sigh impatiently as I hear a weak, short, and extremely girly whimper to my right as they fall on the floor. I could hear them being set upright again, by another person, as someone comes and stands behind me.

I squint at the unusual brightness of the dim lights, compared to the pitch black darkness inside the bag, as the cloth is removed. My wavy blonde hair tumbled out of the bag in a messy heap as the tips settled at the middle of my biceps. I breathed deeply cause that stupid bag didn't let much air through. I looked to see who was on my right and, unsurprisingly, it was Julie. I smirked at how messy her hair was too; even if it was in a braid. I also noticed that she too was in cuffs now.

I turned around to the front to see the red-eyed shirtless man standing in front of us. Scowling up at him, I finally have the chance to fully observe him. In addition to empty and emotionless red eyes, he has short red hair. Which looked pretty natural on his slightly tanned skin. His clothes are made up of a pure white tunic held up by a thick gold belt with the top part ripped off, which allowed view to his ripped and bare chest. You could also see a few inches of the tattered top peeking above his belt; almost as if he ripped it off himself. He was barefoot with only thick, golden bands on his ankles (I swear, they gotta be thicker than my entire hand). He also had white bandages that covered his forearms and went up to his knuckles, protecting them from any possible harm.

"So I'm guessing we're in the same building since I didn't go through any doors on my little trip," I said coolly as Yance came into the room (as I totally try to seem as if I'm not mentally scarred for eternity). The giant moved aside to let Yance stand center. Yance has traded his modern clothes for some dark and heavy looking robes with a tall white collar. A questioning flag went up in my head, but I ignored it for the time being.

"Quite the observant one you are." He simply smiled, with no warmth, at me while his eyes held a different emotion. One that is cold and hostile. Just looking at him made me feel sick. "Now...I'm curious...have either of you recognized him? Or at least his race to be more precise." Yance made his way toward the redhead and gestured to his tall frame. I narrowed my eyes in hostility as confusion worked it's way into my mind at his out-of-place question. 'This guy is like a crazy cat in a bag. What next? Saying that this is a joke and offering to get coffee as an apology?'

"Not really..." I turned to Julie with a teasingly friendly and relaxed emotion on my face. "Say Julie...do you recognize him? I sure don't...I would've made it a point to remember those biceps of h-" My head landed near Julie's knees, from the force of being punched in the cheek by a nearby guard, before I returned my gaze returned to Yance again. I heard said crazy cat sigh sadly.

"You know I don't like being made fun of, nor to be kept waiting. So it would do you some good to answer truthfully." I quietly hissed at the pain of my cheek bleeding inside my mouth, as I sat up and spat out some of the blood.

"Like I said. I don't really rec-"

"I do." 'Huh?' I raised my eyebrow at Julie's words. 'Did she now...'

"Do you now?," activate eye roll, "Well please continue to humor me." Really Yance was getting on my nerves in a sickly way that made my stomach churn. Just shut up Yance. No one likes you.

"Well his unusual hair and eye color hint at his possible race, but it's his strength that really gave it away for me."

"And that would be?" My eyebrows furrowed at my friend's stalling. He did look familiar. All to well familiar. I was just to hyped up on adrenaline and fear to dig through my memories to find an answer. I certainly don't want to dig through my most recent ones, thank you very much. Julie just looked at me with a disbelieving look, while Yance chuckled at our small exchange.

"That's quite alright. It's expected that you wouldn't bother to remember much after your recent experiences." Yance was still smiling as he clamped a hand onto the giant's shoulder. 'If that's even possible considering he's like almost seven feet tall.' "Mees here is a Fanalis." My first reaction was to laugh. And so I did just that. Laugh to deny the impossible possibility.

"Yeah right. He's part of a powerful warrior race that belongs in an anime." I continued to laugh as my mind worked furiously to piece together the knowledge I had at my disposal. "Next you're gonna tell me that what we saw at the apartments was Al Thamen's doing because you guys need mo-" Before I could say anything else, the guard behind me started to choke me with a pair of handcuffs. Yance held up his hand and I was released.

"That's exactly correct. Both of you are brighter than you seem. There's no doubt that he will be very pleased with my choice." I took some deep, steady breathes as I just glared at Yance. Now my throat felt weird. Thanks for nothing, jerk.

"So why are you helping Al Thamen potentially destroy our world? Don't you care for your own world?" Julie asked him, clearly trying to be a negotiator in this mess as she did her best to conquer her own fears. Yance gave us a cold and sadistic smile as black rukh flowed around him in great numbers. My eyes widened as chill ran down my spine when he put on his checkered mask.

"Who ever said I belonged to this world?" The man we once thought of as Yance soon showed us his true identity as he chuckled with dark humor. "This world of yours has so much more dark rukh than our home world. It's just...*delightful*." I felt dread settle into my body once again as I stared at the man in front of me, along with his personal human tank standing guard.

The man we used to identify as Yance raised his hands as a signal for us to stand. Both Julie and I were hauled to our feet by our personal torture guardians in suits. We were escorted towards a bunch of wooden boxes as the man in the checkered mask watched in content. As we neared the boxes, I looked over my shoulder in curiosity. Mees handed his master a staff with the same mask acting as a scythe blade. 'Damn that man...'

Just as I was about to question him, the masked man raised his staff and my head was forced to face forward again by my guard. My eyes widened as a portal opened in front of the boxes for us to enter. 'Oh hey...look at that. Doesn't it remind you of that one djinn equip that one guy has? You know I've quite forgotten his name...But hey...you get a good view of some stars through that thing right? It so clear...it's like a high def portal.' Julie and I both froze momentarily at the sight of the portal, before our escorts moved us along. I heard the masked man laugh at our hesitation.

"Don't worry...you'll find out where you're going soon enough." He just continued to cackle at us as we were dragged closer to the awaiting portal.

"I won't let you take them to him!" At the new voice, Julie and I turned our heads at the sounds of struggle. Brandon was fighting to get the staff away from Mr. Evil Psychopath as Mees walked towards the both of them, looking quite bored with the whole thing. I struggled to escape their grip, along with Julie, but it was no use. We entered the portal against our will, not knowing that we won't be returning for a long time or what had happened to a certain redhead.

**I know I'm evil :D I couldn't help it! So we finally find out what happened to the gals...sorta...So did you guys figure out who Yance truly is? Hehehe I love my diabolical plan ^^ So my question for you this time is...What do you think so far? I'm truly curious. Well...I'm out of stuff to say XD See y'all soon!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Wooooo hey guys! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated since summer. But sophomore year is so much more stressful than freshman year...Also dealing with a new school isn't as fun either...Anyways, I finally will reveal the MC's...or at least a shortened version of it XD I love the name I found so much that I'm waiting to use it in a perfect situation...well have fun with this chappie ^^**

Entering the portal was...nice...in a way. It felt warm, but it also felt like it electrified every nerve in your body. It didn't hurt, but it tingled in a good and...you could say an exciting...kind of way. I couldn't even feel the guard's hold on me anymore, just the warm tingling feeling. To bad it didn't last longer than a few moments.

I saw light appear behind my closed eyes. My brows furrowed as I don't remember closing my eyes. I opened my green orbs to be greeted by a beautiful sight. (Sinbad wearing a leaf! No not really XD ahem...moving on.) I was floating above a bright blue planet. I could see lighter trails of blues gliding across the surface in graceful arcs and spirals, while bright white beams of light came out of it's core.

I stared in awe as the cuffs on my wrists just disappeared like grains of sand. My heart pounded as I looked around me, finally noticing that I was alone. I worryingly flung my head around trying to at least find Julie. But unluckily for me the planet decided to do something else. Blind me. I squeezed my eyes shut and crossed my arms in front of my face; trying to block the bright white beam of light as it passed over me. I only dared to open my eyes when I heard something heavenly.

"Liaaa!"

"Julieee!"

I swear that I was on the verge of tears when I caught sight of my friend. Although, it didn't surprise me that she had a few tears running down her cheeks herself. We were smiling like madmen while flinging our arms idioticly, trying to reach each other.

Finally we somehow floated over to one another, thanks to some mysterious force. To be honest this place felt like space, or what the movies depicted of it. I opened my arms and Julie gleefully glided into them; clutching onto me and giving me a hug with all of her strength. We spun around in circles once we collided with one another. We laughed with relief as we held each other; making sure not to let go or else we might spin off to who knows where.

"Do you happen to know where we are?" Julie asked after a few minutes of blissful silence. I lifted my head from her hair to look at our surroundings. We really were in space...or at least it looked like it. If it was we wouldn't be alive right now. 'Well...we have to be in Magi, right? Cause-wait...what's that?' I squinted my eyes at the object floating closer to us over Julie's head.

"Cause I think this is from Magi...what's wrong?" Julie turned around in my tightened hold to see what I was looking at. I could tell that it was another portal, but I couldn't see where it lead like the previous one. At least not yet. Julie turned to me.

"Is that?"

"A portal." I answered firmly. Julie looked back at the incoming blob. I started to look around us to see if there was anything of interest or that could help. I sighed at my futile attempt and turned back to stare at the now frighteningly close portal.

"Is it just me or does that look like a bunch of gold?" I squinted my eyes as I asked, trying to see better. The inside of the portal was like a warm mixture of yellow with hints of orange. As it got closer I could see wind sweep away some of the golden substance. "Nuh-uh, I think that's sand," Julie commented.

I stared at the portal as I felt fear worm it's way into my mind. The portal was still advancing towards us as Julie buried her head into my jacket. But just before we were engulfed, the portal halted. I looked at said object with confusion as I tapped Julie's shoulder. Her head emerged from my chest and also stared in bewilderment.

"What the-?" I kept my eyebrows furrowed as my mouth hung open. "Do you think we're supposed to jump in?" I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders for my answer. We floated there in confusion as we watched the golden sands shift with the wind.

I tried to lean forward to see into the golden space more, but it was almost as if it was one of those weird 3D shifting pictures. I sighed as I leaned back into my friend's arms, seeking a small sliver of comfort from today's recent experiences. I closed my eyes and massaged the bridge of my nose as my racing thoughts started to give me warning pains of an incoming migraine. But before I could crush those pains, I felt Julie's weight shift forward. My heart sped up and when I opened my eyes, to my horror, I saw Julie reaching for the portal and then fall into it.

I opened my mouth so I could scream my friend to hell at being so stupid. But, instead, I screamed something else when I, myself, was pushed forward into the golden jaws after Julie. "WHAA?!" I flipped upside down from the force of the push, before righting myself again to see if I saw correctly. A figure completely comprised of white rukh had pushed me. I couldn't see their face, but I could sense their calm and kind smile as they waved me goodbye. I stared at them in surprise as I fell into the portal; the space like place and rukh person growing smaller and smaller.

And the moment that beautiful place vanished from my sight is when I felt it. The dry wind and the heat. Oh god the heat. I blinked and noticed that I was staring up at a cloudless midday sky. I turned myself over so that I was on my stomach. To be more specific, falling towards the earth on my stomach. My eyes widened as I realised I was falling from a good two-maybe three-story height. I screamed as I hurriedly crossed my arms in front of my face, preparing for the fast incoming earth beneath me. But it never came.

I felt something sturdy and warm bump into me before wrapping it's arms around me. Wait arms? I cracked open my right eye before opening the left. I stared in amazement as we glided down and landed; with the person who caught me only slightly bending their knees from the landing. I looked to my left and saw that there was a couple of large and muscular men. Julie was being held by the arms by two of them and was currently gagged with an old rag. She valiantly fought back, to resist her arms from being bound. But once she realized she wasn't going anywhere, she soon started to stare at me with unshed tears. I stared back, unable to move as I was being held like a bride from my savior and possible captor.

I heard said person release a loud sigh. I timidly and slowly turned my head. My eyes were on the verge of popping out of my head. I was being held by a male Fanalis. His signature red hair is shoulder length and his eyes are slightly and naturally (not to mention elegantly) squinted. I, regrettably, felt my face grow warm when I noticed he had a black skin-tight and sleeveless shirt covering his muscled chest. He looked nothing like Mees.

"Galum!" I heard a man yell in slight annoyance. The man dropped me and I was allowed sight of his entire being. He had a white cloth somehow secured around his waist and it hung above his knees. The Fanalis stared at me with an empty, yet dominant, look while he started to fiddle and tighten the bandages on his forearms. I heard someone stomp angrily through the sand towards us. But before I could look to see who, they placed their foot on my head and forced me to the ground. I resisted at the last second, before I got a mouthful of sand.

"What is this worthless piece of trash?!" The man demanded. I ground my teeth as I stared at Galum's black gladiator sandals. The Fanalis stayed silent, but I could sense the uneasiness rolling off of him with his choice. But before the man could demand for answers, I swung my left arm around and knocked down his other leg; scrambling to get to my feet.

"RESTRAIN HER YOU IDIOTS!" At that exact moment, three of the men split off from the group and ran towards me. I stood at the ready, with a strong, wide stance. Julie, on the other hand, had other plans. She broke free from the men and ran to the closest of my opponents. She managed to run up behind the man and kicked him where the sun don't shine. He toppled over while Julie was tackled by her previous captors.

I returned my attention back to the two remaining men. They were coming at me on both sides, trying to corner me. I started to panic and my stomach twisted. It was clear that these two could easily overpower me. And don't forget the fact that I have no real life combat skills that I could use. But before I could do anything, I was lifted up by my waist and thrown over someone's shoulder.

**Gah I'm sorry for this shitty cliffhanger. I felt like I had to post something. Well updates will officially be slowing down since the school year has started. Fyi: Galum isn't mine. He's someone else's OC that I've gotten permission to use. I yahoo want to see what he looks like you can go on DeviantArt and search his name. I've tried to combine the two looks a little. Well please fav and comment and I'll see you next time ^U^**


	7. IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE

Hey guys...I'll have you guy know that I'll be putting this on hold for awhile. School here is just ugh too many projects imo...and my friend TennisBunnyRox has create FanWriMo and everyoneven create a tumblr page for it so checkin t out for details. I'll be participating in FanWriMo.

But the main reason I'm writing this is because I literally jus found out that my friend had overdosed on monday and is now in the hospital. I'm just...I swear my mental state is crumbling and I just can't write this fic while I'm like this. I'd like to but I won't...it would be an even worse piece of garbage XD

*sigh* So hopefully I'll write a new chapter before FanWriMo begins as an apology...Until then...have a great day!


	8. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

I yelled in surprise when I felt my body being lifted. I felt the world flip before my head collided with a stone hard back. I groaned in pain as I held my nose._ Today just isn't my day..._

I could hear the man I had knocked over, scramble to his feet in the warm sand. I squirmed around on the males shoulder in an attempt to break free. But I stopped short when Galum turned his head to glare at me out of the corner of his eye. I gulped in fear when I caught his gaze. I immediatly turned around and hung there, no questions asked. Scary.

"Tch. Troublesome girls. You'll be punished like the trash you are," I heard the man say in disgust. My mind filled with disgust in return. I just stayed silent, slightly glaring at the ground. I heard him yell orders but I couldn't catch what he said.

Galum started to walk towards a horse-drawn cart with me still on his shoulder. 'God this heat is unbearable...' I sighed as I remained limp in Galum's hold. "Galum!" I heard the same man yell. I looked up and I felt everything within me go blank.

It was Fatima. The slave trader. With every step he took my entire body filled with dread. His silver hair swayed with every step he took. Blood red lips were formed into a sickeningly confident smirk. His stride was smooth, graceful, and held a small sense of authority. This man...this man was making me sick.

"_What_ do you think your doing?" Fatima asked angrily.

"Putting her with the others." Fatima opened his mouth to complain but stopped short. He hummed and furrowed his eyebrows in thought. Fatima studied my face before grabbing my chin. His eyes narrowed as he moved my head, examining my face with interest. I numbly stared back at him as he released my chin.

"Hmm...yes...she'll do," He sighed, "She might fetch for a decent price...but where to sell her and her friend..." Fatima wondered out loud as he walked towards the head of their slave caravan. Galum just turned around and kept walking towards the horse drawn cage cart. He opened the metal gate and set me inside the already crowded cage. Although he was surprisingly gentle, I couldn't bring myself to process anything else. I was too overwhelmed. Everything...all that has happened...it's catching up to me...my mind is shattering...it's too much...those people...

"Miss...miss...? Are you alright?" I snapped to my senses as a child gently shook my shoulder. She was probably no older than six. With her short brown hair in small stumps for pigtails, her appearance was just screaming innocence. But what caught my eye was her worn out face and the chains on her legs.

Then it hit me. I looked at all of the people in this cage. Their faces were sunken in, worn, and tanned from long hours in the sun. They all had scars. Some on their faces and arms. But the worst was their ankles. Everyone had shackles and scars on their ankles. Some were old while others were fresh and bleeding. Slaves. They were all slaves.

**_I was in a slave caravan._**

"Miss...?" The girl tentatively reached out to me again. "Naima, leave her be. She's been through enough today." A middle aged woman wrapped her arms around the girl.

My thoughts froze. Slave._ Slave_. **_Slaves_**. The word kept repeating in my mind, almost tauntingly. I sat there, frozen. The carriage started to move with a sudden jerk. _Slaves...Wait._ My head snapped upright, which earned a surprised gasp from the girl._ Julie...where's Julie?_

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest with the thought of me losing track of my friend. I stood up, but fell down to my knees when we hit a bump. I stood again and gripped the iron bars. I searched through the few people walking next to the caravan. No...I looked to the cage attached behind us. No...I don't see her...

"Julie!" I hurriedly picked my way through the slaves to get to the front of the cage. That earned me some muttered insults, glares, and the attention of quite a lot of them. I continued my visual search. No sign of her... "JULIE!" I shouted her name in desperation._ Where is she?_ I continued to call her name in a worried chant.

"Slave!" A guard yelled at me. Before I could respond, he grabbed my hair through the bars. "Shut up and know your place, filth." He released me after speaking in my ear; quite disgustingly might I add. I fell to the metal floor with tears in my eyes. I massaged my head to help ease the pain. _Bastard..._I silently seethed at the guard. These guys disgust me. They're treating us like we're crappy old souvenirs that no one wants anymore. The same girl from before cautiously approached me as I remained seated on the floor in despair. _Why did I let her out of my sight? More importantly...where and what did they do to her. _My entire body stiffened and my head shot upright when I felt a tiny hand start to pet my hair. The little girl jolted back in surprise and rested her hand in her lap in disappointment.

"I'm sorry...I was just trying to-" I studied the saddened smile she gave me. Even though she's a slave, this young, she still tries to keep herself smiling._ Why is she apologizing? She didn't do anything wrong. _

"Don't apologize." Her head lifted slightly. Surprise and confusion flitted across her face.

"You did nothing wrong, so don't apologize. I was just surprised is all." I gave her a small smile and softly stroked her head. She slightly flinched at first at my hand but accepted my touch. My smile faltered for a brief moment. _Must be instinct. Just what the hell has she been through?_ She let out a quiet '_Oh_' before lowering her gaze. I retracted my hand and returned it to my lap. I watched her as her face scrunched up in confusion as she stared at something. Protectiveness swelled in my chest just then. I may not have a single clue as to what is going on at the moment, but I do know that this child, this world, all of it was real; I'd do anything to protect this child at this moment. _The weak must be protected by the strong. Till they can grow strong and protect others who are too weak to do it themselves._

"What _are_ those?" I blinked my eyes as my mind came hurtling back to the present. _Wha?_ Tracing her line of vision, my eyes settled on my sneakers. _Oh._ My gaze went to her face. I almost squealed at the cuteness. Her nose was scrunched up in the cutest way and her eyebrows were scrunched together as she studied my footwear. _God dammit...this is too adorable...this level of cuteness should be illegal. _The child started to poke my shoes and play with the white laces. I made a strangled groan-like noise as I watched the girl. _Dammit... _She looked up when I made one of my many weird sounds, momentarily distracted from my shoes. Her head tilted to the side as she studied me, wondering what could possibly be wrong. Again, her eyebrows furrowed oh-so-cutely.

...

...

**"_I'm gonna die!_"** The entire caravan turned towards us.I squealed as I embraced the little girl. She squeaked in surprised as I nuzzled her head and started to rock back and forth. "_Stop being so cute!_" The people in the cage gave a sigh of relief; after being worried about my well being with my previous choice of words. The girl in my arms relaxed a bit after hearing my giggles. _I swear this kid should be illegal. She's ruining my health with her cuteness._ After a few more cute filled moments, I released my hold on the small child and smiled at her.

"Sorry about that..." I chuckled nervously as I ran my hand through my hair and scratched the back of my head. She shook her head. "It's fine. I'm just glad that you seem to be a bit happier." She smiled sweetly back up at me. My smile diminished slightly. _Right...Julie...Alright! No more depressing thoughts and it's time to focus! _

"But what exactly are those?" She pointed to my sneakers again.

"Ah. They're shoes." Her tiny face contorted into confusion again. "Where I come from they're called sneakers." I watched (while trying not to be rude and laugh) as she stared at my shoes and tried to say the name correctly. _Too cute..._

"Naima." The same middle aged woman from earlier crawled towards us. "Who's your new friend?" She sat next to 'Naima' and smiled at me. Her face was covered with dirt and she had some early wrinkles showing. Naima happily smiled at the woman before turning to me.

"Umm...What's your name?" I smiled and held out my hand.

"Lia." Naima graciously grasped mine with her smaller one.

"I'm Naima! And this is my auntie, Ieshia!" **(A/N: Naima: Na-e-mah and Ieshia: E-a-sha) (Single letters say their name. Fyi...****)**

"It's a pleasure." I smiled at the duo. If I look closer, the two do resemble each other quite a bit. _I honestly thought they were mother and daughter when I first saw them._ Ieshia lightly laughed. "My, you have quite the manners don't you? Earlier, other people would have thought that you had almost none." I gave a strained smile. "I only have them when people give them in return." At this she laughed heartily. It was a pleasing sound to hear.

"I like that. Might as well save that for later. Right, Ieshia?" A man who was heavily muscled and had dark tanned skin somehow managed to maneuver his giant body through the crowd and sat down next to Ieshia. She laughed. "Now, now. You're going to get in trouble for that one day."

I simply watched the two as they exchanged words almost as if they were old friends. Naima crawled into her Aunt's lap and started to happily play with her long black hair. Even though they were slaves, they were enjoying themselves and were acting as if they didn't give a care in the world. A sharp contrast to the people sulking in the corners of the moving cage. I soon became lost in my thoughts about recent events. Just one thing bothered me the most though..._Just where in the hell did Julie go?_

_..._

**HEYO READERS!** I'M NOT DEAD I WAS JUST CAUGHT UP WITH SCHOOL AND MIDTERMS HAVE PASSED LIKE A FEW WEEKS AGO. SO SORRY THAT I HAVE BEEN GONE FOR SO LONG. I actually read my friend's update (wink wink now i know you read my crap wink wink) cause she hasn't updated in awhile and idk it just motivated me to get MY ass in gear. XD Anyways! I actually lost track of Julie while I finished that little bit inside the cage XD Woops...sorry Julie... (Julie: Hey!) But I have not given up on this don't you worry! I WON'T LET MYSELF GIVE IT UP BECAUSE I HAVE WORKED TO DAMN HARD WITH THIS PLOT AND THE DESIGNS AND EVERYTHING ELSE HOLY CRAP GO ASK JULIE SHE WILL TELL YOU. (Please excuse the spelling errors and stuff I am too lazy to paste this into Word and edit it atm cause I actually started this on my tablet then finished it in the copy &amp; paste document page thingy "XD)

Well I have nothing else to say in this A/N except R&amp;R! (Seriously guys if you commented on this it would have been up faster because comments are food...no...**LIFE** for me) HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY READERS! (omg my dad just came in and asked what I was doing and started to read this...so embarrassing /)


	9. Chapter 7

**Ugh sorry that I haven't been updating. I'm real bad about that sort of thing... Not to mention I got my SOLs to study for this entire month (basically important tests/exams for those who don't know. if i dont pass i can't move on to the next grade basically) but I'm gonna write and post this chap for y'all today. I'm feeling generous :3 (plus i got like 95% of my homework done so hehe)**

**oh! also I'm working on a new fanfic! If any of my dear followers like KnB please check out the first chap that i submitted~ I'll be working on that from time to time now also...anyways enjoy this treat lovlies~**

Chapter 7

We traveled for hours. It's nearly sundown and still no sign of Julie. I was distracted at first by entertaining Naima and the others, but now I'm completely restless. I give Naima forced, weak smikes when she tries to get my attention. The only thing I can do is stare out at the passing landscape. Sand...Julie...and oh look more sand and no Julie.

"It's meaningless to get worked up. You'll see your friend soon enough." I looked towards Eluf, the same friendly giant from before. He reached over Naima, who was playing with a shoe I took off, and patted me on the head. I glanced over to him before returning my gaze outside the cart. It was still hot out, but the sun was starting to set. _It's going to get cold soon._ I sighed before proceding to take my other shoe off for Naima. She had started to pull at the shoelaces. I also took off my socks and put them in the back pockets of my jeans. _Ah that's better. Not as hot and uncomfortable now._ I continued to watch the passing landscape as the sun slowly started to dissapear behind the horizon.

-Few days later-

"Come on! Get in there!" I fell to the ground with a grunt protruding form my lips. _Great yet another damn cage._ I quickly stood up and sprinted for the open door but the gaurd closed it on me. I violently threw myself at the bars. "You're not going _anywhere _you little _snake._" The gaurd sneered at me from the other side. I gained the title "snake" for trying to escape, in the middle of the night, to search for Julie among the other slaves. But I _oh so happened_ to run into Galum, who then returned me to my original cage. The gaured walked away with a snort and I flopped myself on the dirt floor. I was getting uneasy and extremely reckless. Being sick with worry is never a good thing for me to be experiencing.

"Um...Lia dear?" I turned my head around to see Ieshia. "You said that you're friend had long black hair and was wearing similar clothing to you, correct?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Hope surged through my chest, but I tried to ignore it. _Don't get your hopes up._

"I believe we've found her. We think it's the girl in the corner b-" Ieshia pointed to the corner in the far left in the back of the cage, the farthest from the door. I scrambled past her in a blind rush. _Julie._ I weaved my way through the others, trying not to step on any limbs in the process. I saw Naima and Eluf sitting next to a girl in dirtied clothes. _Black hair...dirty white shirt...jeans and sneakers. _Only one person could possibly be wearing clothes like that and that's-

"Julie..." The girl jolted at the sound of my voice before turning around. It was her. _Oh god my throat and chest are getting tight. I'm not gonna cry dammit. Not in public. _

"Lia..." Julie sniffed while tears started to fall from her eyes a bit. I crouched down to her level and brought her into a hug. "Crybaby." I smiled when she gave a watery laugh. _Everything is gonna be okay now. I'm not going to let us get seperated again. Even if it kills me._

After that reunion I had introduced Julie to the others. The welcomed her warmly as she tried to stop crying. But our happy moment didn't last long. A day or so later, the gaurds soon came to our cage to start escorting some of us somewhere else. Everyone looked worried and scared. I had asked Ieshia and Eluf what was going on but neither responded. That only caused me to worry more. Julie and I held eachother's hands tightly after that.

"They're probably picking some of us out to sell at the slave auction," whispered a middle aged man near us. My heart skipped. "Let's just hope we don't get picked today. I heard that a two of the nastiest slave owners in the country are going to be at the auction today." I could feel myself pale as Julie visibly stiffened. All of the families inside our cage were huddling together, while the solitary slaves sat in despair waiting for fate to make up its mind. It wasn't long until Fatima waltzed in the cage. My breath hitched when his gaze found mine. _No...please not us...pick someone else._ He started to make his way straight towards our little group with that _shit eating grin_ _of his. That grin really pisses me off, but it also scares me shitless...__Heh looks like I need to get a bigger pair eh?_

"Hmm...how about we show these two today? Might make a little gold." He stared right at Julie and I, thinking about what price we might go for probably. He sighed and waved his hand at the gaurd behind him, "Why not sell the big one, the woman, and the child too? They might bring us a fair price, especially the male." Fatima's eyes glinted darkly as he thought about the possible gold Eluf could put in his coin purse. He quickly turned away to pick out a few others while a few extra gaurds came into the cage to escort us.

They quickly put cuffs on our wrists before hauling us away. _I need to resist. I need to fight. Resist, fight, break free...**Anything.**_ But I couldn't do anything as they dragged us away. We just followed like broken dogs would follow its abusive master's orders. The gaurds took Eluf to a seperate area than us females. As they pushed me along, I threw one last remorseful glance behind me to see him dissappear down a different corridor. The gaurds lead us to a large room filled with a good number of other females and little girls. There were other gaurds lining the room as the women huddled together. They had dark looks in their eyes as they stared at the female slaves. Why is that? _Because all of the slaves were bare naked. _

I could feel all the air leave my lungs as I watched in disgust. The gaurds forcibly stripped us and ripped our clothes apart in the process. _Jackass that was my favorite hoodie...But you served to amuse me when you had trouble ripping it, so I guess that it served its purpose. But still, this is **highly **embarrassing._ Julie and I did our best to cover ourselves as we waddled our way over to Ieshia and Naima.

The pigs procceded to take each one of us one by one. They started with the younger girls before moving onto the older women. They even took Naima away. All three of us were held back by gaurds when we tried to fight them. Her and Ieshia's screams tore my heart apart. After some time I noticed something. _Odd...it seems as though they are saving the pretty and fit ones for last..._

_"_I wonder why they haven't taken us yet," Julie mumbled. I glanced over at her. Her cheeks were still tinted in a blush as she sifted uncomfortably. _My face is probably red too..._

"They're probably keeping you two for last," Ieshia whispered. It was the first time she spoke since Naima was taken away.

"Why would they do that?" I nodded in agreement with Julie. _Ieshia is beautiful so I can see why she hasn't gone yet. Sure Julie is beautiful in her own cute way...But me? Pssh I'm pretty average...okay scratch that. I'm below average. I feel so outclassed surrounded by all these beautiful and fit females. _I shrunk back a bit as my self confidence lowered into negative ground.

"Well...this is a guess but," Ieshia paused as a gaurd came near us to grab another slave to take her outside, "But, I think it's because Fatima hasn't seen anyone who quite looks like you two." _Okay that just served to confuse me, Ieshia._

_"_What do you mean? We're not exactly the prettiest faces in the room," I whispered back.

"You might not be the prettiest," Ieshia started, "But both of you are both unusual, exotic even. I haven't seen anyone who quite look anything like you two." I gave her a blank look in response. "Seriously?" _This is so stupid. _

_"_Hate to break it to you Ieshia, but we're pretty normal," Julie responded back. I sighed. This really is stupid.

"No, I'm serious. Girls who look like you, Julie, sell for a very high price with slave owners. They like the girls with the appearance of the girls in Kou." My mind fixated on that last word. _Kou...great. Mister fancy goatee and the mother witch are confirmed. _I frowned. I'm not exactly fond of that country. "And you, Lia. You have very unusual hair. I don't think I've seen anyone with that shade of gold before. It's very beautiful," Ieshia smiled. _Oh god don't blush._

"Yeah well it's a pain to take care of with all these damn curls," I glared at one of the said curls on my shoulder. _It really is a pain. Damn hair._ I looked back to Ieshia but she had gone rigid. I heard Julie gasp. Before I could turn around, a pair of arms wrapped around me. _No! Let go!_

_"_Let go, damn you! Let go of me! Bastards!" I screamed as I kicked and writhed with all my might. Julie's screams were muffled by the gaurd's hand that was holding her. _Ugh this feels so wrong. Clothes. I need clothes dammit. _The gaurd dragged me out of the room. There I was blinded by the bright sunlight. I had been in a dark building for days and wasn't used to the sun. I squeezed my eyes shut. _Way too bright..._ The gaurd put me down and after a few moments I opened my eyes again. He was putting shackles on my ankles now. I looked around to see Julie next to me, but I was quickly distracted by something else.

We were standing off to the side of a giant stage. Fatima was up there; auctioning the slave that was grabbed earlier. But what frightened me most was, _the giant crowd of buyers that were shouting their bids. _

**Ohhh man. This chappie is about 2,000 words long. God that was tiring. But eyy we got to meet up with Julie again didn't we? Hehehe...(i just know that all of you are gonna kill me for this chapter i'm sorry guys.) Alright! I wanna say something! For those of you who are wondering when we are going to see the actual amin characters of Magi...DON'T WORRY THEY WILL SHOW UP EVENTUALLY I'M JUST LAYING DOWN SOME SERIOUS FOUNDATION FOR OUR CHARACTERS OKAY? THEY NEED THIS EVEN IF IT'S LONG AND BORING. I'M SORRY. BEAR WITH ME. Anyways...this chappie was made with the help of youtube :3 and wow its 6 o'clock now...jeesh I need to eat supper...**

**R&amp;R YOU NERDS I NEED WRITER FOOD IF YOU GUYS WANT MORE CHAPTERS (also I might be making chapters this long from now on so we can get to the actual magi story okay? ahh i just wanna skip to magnostadt with Titus and all the other precious bbies already...)**


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